Wading the Waters

future humans are far more sensory-based than we are now (something about toxic exposure leading to genetic changes to our neurology)

A group is kayaking the Clarifying Waters of the Manhattan Human Nature Preserve, where people come to reflect and gain insight before making social decisions. When they come upon The Sign, they stand barefoot in the water, together. when they Call Upon the Past, they sense the history and the radiating impacts of what humans who lived here long ago had unleashed on the world.

They are reminded of a time when humans could use words to deceive themselves and others. They could claim that a word meant something, then use that word to compel actions which did not match that meaning. A time when humans could avoid feeling the harm they were doing to others beings. They could block themselves from seeing and feeling, never realizing how distorted their vision was nor how thwarted their bodies had become.

Few people came to the Clarifying Waters alone. Tapping into the history and receiving the past could be traumatic. Experiencing the vibrations of ancient human existence was so terrifying that Grounders were needed. Grounders were people who stayed out of the water and kept their feet on the ground. They would watch over the Receivers and hold the hands of anyone who started to shake. People had died from seizures before there were Grounders.